News & Rankings

Economic Development January Recap

New & Expanding Companies:

ABB | Smart Grid | Expanding

ABB, a power technologies company, is moving 350 employees in its power products and power systems unit from the company's existing Centennial Campus space to the new Alliance One building. The company will lease 94,000 square feet----three of five floors----at this new location. ABB expects to relocate in 2015.

Biologics, Inc. | Biotech/Pharma | Expanding

Biologics, Inc., an oncology services company, signed a contract with Highwoods Properties to build a new $15 million office building for the company in Cary. Cary-based Biologics will occupy all of the new 75,000-square-foot, three-story building. The new building is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2015.

PowerSecure International, a Wake Forest-based cleantech company, has hired more than 100 employees in the past year. PowerSecure delivers energy technologies and services to electric utilities and their industrial, institutional, and commercial customers.

In January, President Obama visited Raleigh to announce that NC State University had been selected to lead the Next Generation Power Electronics Innovation Institute. The Institute will unite academic, government, and industry partners in an effort to transform energy efficiency across a wide range of applications, including electronic devices, power grids, and electric vehicles. Seven universities and 18 private-sector companies, including local companies Cree, GridBridge, Delta Products, Vacon, and ABB, will be a part of the initiative.

Michael Haley, project manager with Wake County Economic Development called the announcement "an important recognition of our region's global position as a leader in smart grid and cleantech innovation." The Institute will focus on developing wide-bandgap semiconductors, which can make powering personal devices, electric vehicles, and industrial-scale drive motors more efficient. The U.S. Department of Energy will provide $70 million to the Institute over the next five years to be matched by business, universities, and the State of North Carolina. The Institute will be headquartered at NC State's Centennial Campus and will provide shared facilities, equipment, and testing and modeling capabilities to companies across the power electronics supply chain. Its resources will be made available to small and medium-size manufacturers, to help invent, design, and manufacture new semiconductor chips and devices.

Wake County Economic Development provided a letter of support to NC State University for the grant that lead to this important announcement. For more information, please visit Wake County Economic Development's Smart Grid website.

Trade shows for recruitment:

Michael Haley, project manager for Wake County Economic Development, traveled to San Antonio, Jan. 27-- 29 to attend DistribuTECH, the utility industry's leading smart grid conference and exposition. Haley traveled as a part of a Triangle delegation that included representatives from the Morrisville Chamber of Commerce and the Research Triangle Cleantech Cluster. An estimated 10,000 people and more than 400 exhibiting companies attended the conference to learn about the latest technology, products, and services. Attendees also participated in conference sessions and roundtable discussions and networked with other industry professionals.

Since Jan. 1 2014, Wake County Economic Development has had eight new projects and two site visits. Wake County has had five announcements of companies moving or expanding to the area, creating 120 jobs, and investing $15 million.

New and Expanding Announcements by Cluster:

Of the five new and expanding announcements in 2014, five of those (100 percent) are in Wake County Economic Development's cluster industries.

Labor Market Statistics:

Wake County

December2012

December2013

Year to Date Change

Labor Force

491,040

486,071

-4,969

Employed

455,207

461,561

+ 6,354

Unemployed

35,833

24,510

- 11,323

Rate

7.3%

5.0%

- 2.3%

This information was compiled by Wake County Economic Development, a program of the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce. For more information, contact Kelly Maness at kmaness@raleighchamber.org.